AUGUSTA — If not for the click of a camera, Ernie Els might have birdied the 18th hole yesterday and at least made Vijay Singh sweat a little before winning the 64th Masters.

Els, who began the day four shots back at 3-under, would have trailed Singh by only one stroke had he made a 12-foot putt for birdie

on the final hole. Instead, he missed his putt and blamed a premature click of a camera for interrupting his focus.

The noise forced Els to step back after he initially addressed his ball. After hearing the click he went through his whole pre-putt routine again.

“Some guy got way ahead of time,” Els said. “I wasn’t even taking the putter back and he was off. I don’t know who it was. I was trying to make the putt. If I made the putt, I might have still lost, but I would have at least given Vijay a chance to think about it.”

It seems a moot point, considering Singh went on to birdie the 18th hole and win by three strokes. Still, Els was miffed.

“The guy should never take a golf picture in his life again,” the two-time U.S. Open winner said.

Els finished with the day’s low-round at 4-under-par 68. He made his late charge with birdies on the 11th, 13th and 15th holes.

“I don’t remember playing this well at Augusta ever,” he said. “But coming into 16, 17 and 18, I was really trying to push hard. I knew I had to birdie the last three, and I just couldn’t get it done.”

It was only the second top 10 finish in seven Masters for Els.

“I really felt I was going to win the tournament when I stepped on the first tee,” he said. “I knew from watching this tournament through the years, the back nine is where everything happens. I had my chances. It wasn’t meant to be.”